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Short takes: City savings lights up neighborhoods

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Thursday November 7, 2013 5:32 AM

When new streetlights eventually click on in the Willow Creek subdivision on the South Side and
in the Broad Meadows neighborhood on the Northeast Side, residents there will have good management
by the city’s Department of Public Utilities to thank.

When Columbus City Council approved spending nearly $90,000 for the two projects recently,
Public Utilities Director Greg Davies said savings from switching electricity suppliers are helping
make such projects possible.

Providing streetlights, which make streets and sidewalks safer and more usable at night and cut
down on accidents involving pedestrians, is a fundamental example of what people want from city
government, and improving fortunes for the city’s electricity operation mean residents can expect
more in the future.

Shoppers can be Santas for kids in county care

Kudos to Franklin County Children Services for bringing holiday joy to more than 150,000
children over the past 50 years, through its Holiday Wish program.

Every year, Children Services collects donations of money and toys from the community so that
children who are under the care of the agency will be assured of at least one gift during the
season.

“For many youth, a donation from Holiday Wish is the only time all year that they will receive a
new toy of their very own,” Children Services said in a news release. As central Ohioans shop for
loved ones on their holiday list, they might also think of the 4,600 children in the county’s care
who might not be on anyone’s list.

From now until Dec. 24 (but ideally before Dec. 13, so the staff has time to match gifts with
kids), Children Services will collect donations of new, unwrapped toys and money. Toys go to the
younger children, and the agency will buy gift cards for the kids 12 to 18. For information on how
to donate and for a list of suggested toys, visit
www.franklincountyohio.gov/fccsholidaywish.

Homegrown author could inspire OSU graduates

Ohio State University has managed to land many famous commencement speakers, including U.S.
presidents, international statesmen, prominent business leaders, astronauts and Hollywood
stars.

But here’s betting that none of them ever kept as many people up late night, with flashlights
glowing under covers to read their words, than this fall’s commencement speaker. Or sent as many
chills up spines.

R.L. Stine, the
Goosebumps series author who often is called the “Stephen King of children’s literature,”
will address an estimated 2,500 graduates and their guests on Dec. 15 in OSU’s Jerome Schottenstein
Center.

Stine grew up in Bexley and graduated from OSU in 1965 with a bachelor’s degree in English. He
moved to New York City to begin his writing career, penning more than 300 books for children. He
began writing his famous series in 1992, the year many of this year’s graduates were born.

Bringing back a successful OSU graduate is a great way to inspire this class to make their own
mark on the world. Stine has sold more than 350 million books, a remarkable commercial success. But
he also has helped many children develop a love of reading and fired up their imaginations.